It has been a long time since I posted last, but about 2 1/2 weeks of March were time for festival and travel. March 11-14 I was fortunate enough to spend time in both Brussels and Amsterdam, and with a friend from LFA. Friday March 11 I caught an early flight to Brussels to spend a couple hours seeing the sights. It was very interesting to hear about eight different languages before noon in that one day. But that also shows how incredible it is to travel around a diverse continent like Europe. Once I finally made my way into the city from the airport I began walking to the few spots I found were the most popular tourist attractions. I made my way to a popular park, Parc du Cinquantenaire, and on the way found the Place Royale and the Palacio Real, or the Brussels palace. The architecture was beautiful and unlike anything I normally see in Spain.
I also walked through the downtown area and passed the EU buildings on my way. I wanted to find the UN building, but I am not sure if I actually found the real building. Regardless, it was very nice to walk through the modern and big city area and then afterwards staying in the older part of the city.
The most popular area to see in Brussels is the Gran Plaza. I could tell the plaza was very touristy but it also shows plenty of history with the architecture, especially since the Cathedral stands in the plaza. It was a very beautiful plaza and many of the buildings were covered in gold, I doubt there was any real gold but it still added a certain beauty to the buildings.
One of the parts of Brussels I was very excited about, but not quite prepared for, was the french. I was looking forward to practicing my French again for the first time in a couple years, but I struggled a lot. I would start out the conversation perfectly fine and I could understand pretty well, but when I wanted to respond I would say something in Spanish. I could not stop thinking in Spanish. I am very happy that my mind is more accustomed to speaking and thinking in Spanish, however I do not want to lose my French either. I know that once I am solid and completely fluent in Spanish that I will pick up my French again easily. I ended up walking to the train station from the center because it was a pretty close walk and I had plenty of time. I stopped at an Ethiopian coffee shop on the way to warm up and also take a moment to write in my journal. I also had to stop on my way for some Belgian chocolate and a Belgian waffle.
The train station was easy and the train to Amsterdam was quick. The language was not easy, however. Michelle and I were staying in Volendam, a little outside of the city. I had to take a bus to the suburb but I had the hardest time finding the correct ticket to buy. One of the airport workers helped me but he was very vague and it was freezing. I made it to Volendam eventually and even in the dark I could tell the little time was very cute. Even in the small town there were canals and the houses were perfect. I found Michelle and we caught up quickly and then planned our weekend in Amsterdam.
Saturday we slept in a little, grabbed breakfast and then made our way into Amsterdam. It was a beautiful sunny day. But don’t let the sun fool you because it was still frigid cold. We started walking around and it was absolutely beautiful. We set our sights on finding the secret garden, which was not so secret. But the streets can be difficult to navigate, so it took us a little longer than expected. But we found it. People actually live there but it is seen as a sacred area and you cannot step on the grass.
After that we stopped and had a snack of french fries in a cone, since that is the big thing to do in Brussels and Amsterdam. They were delicious of course. After that we actually roamed around because we were trying to find the I Amsterdam letters, but google maps took us to a random residential area. After that we sat on the water by the NEMO science Museum and just watched the people that passed and enjoyed the sun. We decided to call it a day on the letters since we really didn’t know where they were, so we went to walk around in the city more.
We walked around after grabbing some coffee and just took in the city. We decided for dinner we wanted to get Chinese. We found a nice place to eat and talk before we decided to head home. We didn’t want to stay out too late so we could get enough rest to take on the next day.
As we were walking we stumbled upon the Red Light district. It was very awkward to walk through and see the women in the windows. Even more awkward was seeing the men walk past analyzing them like they were pieces of meat. The women are degraded and I don’t like how they condone this lack of women’s rights. One thing I did notice about the women was how very few were stick thin or had perfect bodies. I think the body image perception is healthier since the women did not seem to be killing themselves for a size 0. Nevertheless, I still feel the display of women is wrong.
The next day we had a couple things on our list. The Anne Frank House, the bench from The Fault in our Stars, the I Amsterdam letters, and the Van Gogh museum. We had breakfast at the same place in Volendam and then caught the bus again. Unfortunately since we had a later start, we arrived to the Anne Frank house at about 12:30 and the line was, not kidding, a mile long already. There were no tickets online that we could buy so we were out of luck. We made our way to the Fault in our Stars bench and sat there for a little while because it was so serene and beautiful. Finally we had reached the part of Amsterdam where the canals and houses are parallel, so away from the busier city part. It was sitting there in that moment that I could see myself living there for a year or so. The bikes, the canals and the buildings are all so different but perfect and represent a culture very different from our in the States.
At last we found the letters. Up until we truly saw them with our eyes we were both convinced they were just a conspiracy and all of the pictures we saw of our friends with the letters was just a backdrop. But we found them. I was so happy, although I had faith the entire time. Once we got our pictures with the letters we went to the little park past the reflection pool to sit and bask in the sun a little. We grabbed some lunch from a nearby food truck and then headed to the Van Gogh museum. Just in time because the wind made it absolutely freezing outside and we did not realize we only had a little under two hours before the museum closed. The museum was amazing and very well put together. They made the museum a timeline through Van Gogh’s life so we could see his progression and also learn about his story. Unfortunately we were a little rushed in the end, but we still saw everything and it was well worth it.
Oddly enough, we bumped into two of the guys in my program that were also in Amsterdam for the weekend. They took us to one of the many bakeries in Amsterdam and we had waffles. Waffles and Nuttela is always a good combination. Although I must say I make better waffles than those at home, they were still delicious. We were hungry for dinner, so we started to walk around trying to find a good but also cheap place to eat. We walked around for a while before we found our favorite in Valencia, Doner Kebab. We told Michelle she had to try it and she loved it of course. We walked around in the cold night and found statues of soldiers in the Rembrandt square and then headed home after since Michelle and I had to get up at about 4:30am to catch the bus and our flight to Barcelona. I took a train back to Valencia from Barcelona and arrived just in time for the start of Fallas in Valencia.
This trip was nice because I was able to have time alone to experience a city by my own standards and reflect on that and what I have seen up until that point on my time abroad. It was also nice to see a completely different culture up in the Scandinavian area of Europe. It was also a more relaxed trip, which I needed before the crazy week that was Fallas.
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